1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle occupant restraint system.
2. Description of Related Art
A occupant restraint system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2012-081958 (JP 2012-081958 A) includes an airbag (far-side airbag) that can restrain a head and a neck of a occupant from an inner side of a vehicle. A bottom section of the far-side airbag is deployed to a position below a top surface of a console. When the occupant applies a load to the far-side airbag, the far-side airbag partially contacts the console and thus receives lateral support. Accordingly, the far-side airbag is restricted from collapsing to the console side (vehicle inner side).
Furthermore, in the occupant restraint system illustrated in FIG. 9 of JP 2012-081958 A, the airbag (far-side airbag) includes a first inflatable chamber (large-volume airbag) and a second inflatable chamber (small-volume airbag). An upper section of the large-volume airbag is deployed to the side of the head of the occupant while a bottom section thereof is deployed to a position below the top surface of the console. Meanwhile, the small-volume airbag is deployed above the console from the side of the large-volume airbag. The small-volume airbag functions like a wedge between the console and the large-volume airbag and also functions to extend its surface that faces the console in an upward direction with respect to the large-volume airbag. Accordingly, the small-volume airbag provides more structural support to the large-volume airbag than the console alone.
Although JP 2012-081958 A does not disclose a specific installation structure of the small-volume airbag, it can be considered from FIG. 9 that the small-volume airbag is sewn to the side of the large-volume airbag. When such a structure is adopted, a deployed position of the small-volume airbag is changed according to a deployed state of the large-volume airbag. In this point, the bottom section (lower section) of the large-volume airbag is deployed to a narrow space between the console and a waist of the occupant. Therefore, when the bottom section of the large-volume airbag is not reliably deployed in an early stage, the small-volume airbag cannot be deployed to a set position. Consequently, there is a possibility that the large-volume airbag cannot be sufficiently restricted from collapsing to the console side.